Archive for May, 2007

Minit Records was a small, independent record label started in New Orleans in 1959. It came to national prominence with the release of the #1 smash “Mother In-Law” by New Orleans native Ernie K-Doe in late 1960. This week Matt The Cat digs deep into the Minit Catalog and dedicates the entire show to one of the greatest little labels of all time.

This week HARLEM traces the history of one of the most important songs in not only rhythm & blues history, but also in rock n’ roll history; the Dominoes 1951 hit, “Sixty Minute Man”. This song was so significant, because in all of its sexually risqué glory, it somehow managed to crossover and hit #17 on the pop charts. That meant that both blacks and whites were gettin’ down to the Dominoes’ raunchy sound. This record would set the stage for more R&B; crossovers over the next few years, leading up to the Rock n’ Roll Explosion of the mid-1950s. But where did this song come from? Believe it or not, but “good rockin’ Dan”, the main character in the song can be traced back to 1922. He also appeared a few times during the 1930s and after “Sixty Minute Man” became a hit, Dan would appear in many sequels. You’ll get the entire story behind the story of the evolution of “Sixty Minute Man” this week on Harlem with Matt The Cat.

This week HARLEM digs deep in the vaults to pull out some of Little Richard’s rarest recordings. Did you know a couple of key lines were removed from “Keep A Knockin'”? The original title of “Long Tall Sally” was “The Thing”. Hear the first generation masters from this master of the first generation of Rock n’ Roll. This week on HARLEM.